Baltics impose additional travel bans against Georgian officials

• 3 min read

▲Protesters gather in front of Georgia's Parliament building on 15 February 2025. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media.

The Trump/Musk cuts could shut us down — permanently

You can help us survive this hostile media environment with a monthly or a single donation for as little as $5. In a world drowning in disinformation, your support means we can continue bringing you the real, fact-checked stories that matter.

Become a member

Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have separately enacted travel bans on a new cohort of Georgian officials who they state are responsible for severe human rights violations and repression.

All three Baltic foreign ministers announced the new sanctions on X at around 13:00 on Monday.

The Estonian Foreign Ministry was the only authority to provide details on those sanctioned, first grouping them by position and name before updating their statement to link to the official sanctions registry which lists only by name.

‘We added 55 additional Georgian individuals to the entry ban list’, Estonia’s Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said, making a total of 83 Georgian individuals banned from entering the country.

Those added include ‘judges, prosecutors, police officials and police commissioners, platform creators, and members of parliament’.

‘The listed Georgian individuals have either taken part in violence or threatened it’, Tsahkna said, adding that ‘the violence used in Georgia against protesters, journalists, and opposition leaders is unacceptable, criminal and in violation of human rights’.

Included in Estonia’s sanctions list are Georgian Dream MPs Irakli Zarkua and Viktor Sanikidze, who were recently fined by the authorities in the UAE for attacking a Georgian national in Abu Dhabi.

Also on the list are Alt Info leaders Konstantine Morgoshia and Zurab Makharadze — on Thursday, the far-right group filed to register a new political party, Conservatives for Georgia — and judicial officials involved in the case against Batumlebi and Netgazeti founder Mzia Amaghlobeli.

In contrast, Latvia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs only published a short statement that Foreign Minister Baiba Braže had added 16 Georgian citizens to the list of personae non gratae, noting that ‘the ban on entering Latvia is imposed on the said person for an indefinite period of time’.

Finally, Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys wrote on X that they had added 74 Georgian officials to its travel ban list ‘over severe human rights violations and repression in Georgia’.

‘We stand with the people of Georgia in their pursuit of democracy and a European future’, Budrys added.

The Baltic states previously imposed travel restrictions on Georgian officials — including Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili and Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri — on 2 December 2024, citing the crackdown on protesters demonstrating against the government’s EU u-turn.

On 21 December, Latvia banned another 13 Georgian citizens from entering the country for an indefinite period of time.

Xandie (Alexandra) Kuenning •

11 articles•0 Followers

After years in academia, Xandie returned to Georgia to join OC Media. Her previous work with non-profits focused on Eurasian affairs, particularly queer and gender rights and green politics. She’s also a fan of foreign cinema, tea, and books (but not spilling tea on them).